Early this year, Mamoud Kamara, age 15, came to our Freetown base with his father and older brother. Three months earlier Mamoud had mangled his lower right leg as passenger in a motorcycle-taxi accident. With virtually no money or better treatment options, Mamoud’s family decided to spend their savings to travel Freetown and visit us.
We arranged for Mamoud’s leg to be dressed at a hospital. Much of the bone was exposed and infected. Amputation was the only option to protect his life. Since hospitals in Freetown have been cutting services due to the Coronavirus epidemic, we had to find another venue. We brought Mamoud to the St. John of God Catholic Hospital, about 70 miles from Freetown, where a surgeon could amputate his leg. Mamoud had his surgery on March 27.